Wild fledging adventures….

 Burning the candle at both ends these days….its been one stressful situation after another. Some young ospreys fledge so gracefully, without incident….but some really struggle. For the past three days I have been watching over one of our latest fledges who really got herself into some trouble. When she first took off from her nest on a cell tower she made a very awkward landing in a tight spot. She sat there for a very long time trying to figure out what to do about her predicament. She was wedged between two metal bars…and every time she tried to put her wings out, they got caught. I watched her for many hours…looking around crouching as if she was ready to spring out but the wing would get caught each time. Then she finally hopped up and further IN to the cell tower. Oh dear , a worse spot. Of course this nest was very far from where I live so I had to leave and hope for the best. I got up the next morning at 4:30 to get myself back to her nest by dawn. It took me over an hour to even locate her. She was not where I left her. I listened, searched the ground worked my way around the tower to examine it from every angle….then I saw a wing stretch! She was in a totally different spot perched low on a big round cable. There were some bars in front of her and she repeatedly put her wings out but did not have enough room to extend them fully. She would have to jump out first and put her wings out after she was out of the cell tower. Nope she just couldn’t do it….so she stared backing up and fell off the cable she was perched on, suddenly her legs were dangling below that level of the cell tower and she was beating her wings on the surrounding wires and structures. Yes, some obscenities came bursting out of my mouth. My heart was racing. What would I do to help? And then after just a few minutes, she fell completely thru the cell tower structure and came out below flying! I have no idea how that happened without her injuring her wings! So she flew a few loops and she saw her dad perched on the very top of this tower so she headed for him, but she almost landed on top of him so he flew off and she was sort of thrown right into the center of the tower, down in lower than all the surrounding bars. Oy vey. I watched her there for several hours….she was barely visible, but I kept trying to document each weird spot she landed. I had to leave for a previous appointment….so I asked someone else to check on her. She spent an hour there but couldn’t see her at all. My heart sank. This morning I got up again at about 4 am to get over there early, but a big storm came thru so I waited for the front edge of that storm to pass thru and then went over, even tho it was still raining. The strong winds had passed. I found the chick in the exact same spot I had last seen her. Sad that she was still there and unfed, but happy she wasn’t in a worse spot or injured on the ground. I watched her for many hours….sometimes almost invisible and occasionally flapping her wings which made her obvious. Sometimes just her head popping up above the bars. She was looking around, trying to figure out how to get out of there. The rain let up a bit and suddenly she sort of hopped/flew to a bar that was further out and she struggled to stick that landing, almost falling backwards and into a mass of wires. I gasped…..but she held on tight and managed to stay on that bar. But the vertical bars on either side would prevent her from putting her wings out and jumping off. I knew she would have to be brave and jump out first and then put her wings out. It’s something that older ospreys can easily do but for a newly fledged chick, that takes some real courage. The rain picked up so she sat there for a long time thinking about it. Then the rain let up and she did a lot of preening and drying out. Lo and behold, Dad showed up with a fish and perched one level below her. She eyed him and tried to figure out how she would get to him. Dad just ate the fish and did not take it to the nest. The chick finally screwed her courage to the sticking point and jumped and circled a few times and finally actually stuck her landing on the very top of the cell tower on an outer vertical bar, a safe place….where the adults often perch. Whew. The first good landing in three days. But still….no food! She food begged. Dad finally took off after another visiting osprey. Shortly after he left, Mom showed up. The chick finally took off, did a few loops and landed back on the nest that she left three days earlier. I could finally exhale. She was quite hungry of course and did some food begging, flew another short loop and returned to the nest and finally decided to lay down. Whew. I am sure she is quite tired and quite hungry, as was I. So I asked another monitor to check on her and she reported that she did get fed by mom, like a baby, until her crop was full.

I wanted to be there thru all that in case a rescue was needed…I can never just turn my back and walk away. Sometimes I wish I could. I am still trying to confirm successful fledging on all nests, and sometimes I get there too late and cant find all the chicks…but if I can find one, we know it’s a successful nest. But right now I am so relieved about that chick that filled three days of my life. Recent weeks have been filled with other stress filled osprey related experiences too…..and I feel like I could sleep for a week. But I am so glad that this one had a happy ending! Not all of them do. Photos below of her adventure….

Fence sitting…

 Another 12 hour day in the field….i have been so busy trying to watch over chicks that were potentially in trouble. Sometimes it takes an experienced eye to decide if a chick needs help or just time and observation. I woke up very early after not sleeping well and received an email about a chick that had been sitting on a ballfield fence during high human activity, ballgames since sometime around 5:30 yesterday. So I left home at 6:30 a.m. and headed first to that nest. I was expecting that the chick would be back in the nest by then. But I arrived to find a chick sitting on a fence, near a parking lot. A man pulled up in his car and told me he came to check on the chick as it had been there, unmoved, for 12 hours. He had reported it to The Raptor Center. I explained that newly fledged chicks can act pretty weird and perch in odd places, but this chick should be hungry! I was also concerned about where the other chick was since it was not on the nest or anywhere I could see. I watched the chick on the fence. It was too tall for me to grab the bird. Someone was walking its small dog and the dog stopped right below the chick and put his paws up on the fence and the chick gave an alarm call, but she did not move. Many people walked right near the chick, never even noticing it. I finally spotted the other chick flying in and it landed on a lightpole near the fence perching chick. Mom was on another lightpole. After at least an hour, the male came with a small fish and mom and the flying chick flew to the nest. The fence sitter didn’t move. Its crop was empty. At one point the sibling flew a short loop directly over the fence sitters head and back to the nest, almost as if she was encouraging her sister to return to the nest. I emailed the monitor who watches this nest and she came! Thanks Vicky! We talked and watched and chick….and finally since I wanted to determine if something was wrong with this chick or not, I decided to approach the chick to see if I could encourage it to fly….and it finally did! Just a low swoop across the field to the same fence on the other side. Hmmmm. Flew well and landed fine. So Vicky stayed to watch while I went to check other nests….hoping that dad would bring a whopper that might motivate this girl to get back to the nest. Vicky called me several hours later to say The Raptor Center had sent someone to check on the bird but they couldn’t reach it either and it flew….a good strong, high flight and she had videos. You can’t catch a flighted bird! So they left and the chick returned to the fence! That’s just where she wanted to be! After I finished my nest checks, I returned at about 3:30 to find the chick a few feet from where it had been at 7 am. Still with an empty crop. The mom and sibling were in various places, coming and going. After an hour or so, the chick took off and did some very low loops and then started climbing , gaining altitude slowly and finally made it back to the nest….and almost landed on its sibling. She didn’t appreciate that but no aggression occurred. The flight was strong, and the landing a bit awkward! Typical for a newly fledged osprey. After 32 years of watching them, I always say, flying is easy, landing is hard! They just sat there side by side, the fence sitter dozing a bit, finally safe at home….and then finally the dad arrived with a good size fish! Of course both chicks dove for it….you all probably know that momentary chaos as they fight for the fish! But the fence sitter got it! The other chick just walked away, to the opposite side of the nest. Our hungry girl inhaled the fish, having not eaten for at least 24 hours. It was such a huge relief. After some time, the other sibling walked a bit closer and watched the chick eating, not trying to snatch the fish, but just being nearby, in case there were leftovers. She was very respectful of her hungry sibling. Whew! I felt like we had a happy ending, which was what I expected, but it took longer than I thought it would! So I went to recheck our single mom and her fledgling! Mom was not there in the morning when I stopped by, and that chick was still alone with an empty crop at the end of the day. Oh dear…..and then suddenly this young male began crying….that whiney food begging call and I knew Mom was on the way! Yes! She delivered a whole fish for her chick! I visited a few more nests on my way home, found another newly fledged chick…after a brief search…with its mom on a nearby cell tower. And so I finally made it home 12 hours after I departed. That’s my life these days! Long days, cheer leading for these chicks we love so much. I was there to do a rescue if needed, but was so happy it wasn’t necessary! It started with a stomach in knots, worried, and ended with a glass of wine. Not all days end well tho as we have lost chicks in recent storms, and I have seen a couple dead chicks on nest edges today. Some nests were empty that shouldn’t be. But we celebrate the ones that do survive, and do get back to the nest. And all the hours I spend watching over these birds, are still learning. I watched a mom as her chick flew off to a nearby nest, that had not been active this year but had two adults on it today that were unrelated to the chick! The mom started vocalizing….switching between the chirping call they give to unknown ospreys and an alarm call…it was odd, but was clearly a response to her chick landing on someone else’s nest! So fun to just be out among these birds, watching, listening, noting their reactions and behaviors. I never tire of it. Thanks again to Vicky and to the person who emailed me about the chick on the fence, and the other people at the park who expressed their concerns. It’s lovely when people are aware and concerned. We can sleep better tonight!